Extension shoe



Deco 940 A. PEQORELLA ET AL 2 EJLTENS ION SHOE Filed May 3, 1939 awm@ INVENTORS' ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 3, 1940 UNITED STATES EXTENSION SHOE Alberto Pecorella and Benedict G. Pecorella, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application May 3, 1939, Serial No. 271,552

Claims.

This invention relates to an extensionshoe for the use of persons having one leg shorter than the other.

Heretofore the extensions on shoes of this charg, acter have usually been constructed of a body of cork which was secured to the underside or role of the regular shoe and covered with leather in order to produce a footwear construction which was light and capable of being cleaned and polished. Such a construction, however, has been found unsatisfactory owing to the fact that the leather covering would in time become scuffed or marked and therefore not in the best condition to be dressed by polish or the like so as to present a good appearance. In the event of the leather covering becoming damaged or injured it was possible for Water to leak in or enter the cork body or filling and when'this occurred the weight of the shoe was unduly heavy. This type of extension shoe was also expensive inasmuch as a new extension was usually applied to each new shoe.

One of the objects of the present invention is to construct the'body of the lower or tread section of the'shoe of plastic material such as Bakelite, Durez or similar composition so that the same is very light compared with the type of extension shoe heretofore in use, which lightness is further increased by making the tread section r.) of the shoe hollow and closing the open top thereof by means of the insole on the upper or foot section of the shoe. 7

Another object of this invention is to so construct the lower or tread section of the shoe that :J the use of leather as a separate covering element is avoided, thereby eliminating the possibility of scufling of the extension and also permitting thesame to be cleaned'and polished in the same manner in which this is done with an ordinary shoe.

A further object of this invention is to provide simple, efficient and easily operable fastening means whereby the tread section of the extension shoe may be 'detachably connected with the foot or upper section thereof and thus enable the same tread section to be used on a succession of shoes which are of the same size and thereby avoid the loss incident to discarding parts of the extension, as has been the custom heretofore and instead effecting a substantial saving due to the repeated use of the same extension. I p

In the accompanying drawing:

I Fig. 1' is 'a side elevation on a reduced scale,

Eli)

of an extension shoe embodying these improvements.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section; on an enlarged scale, taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1 looking downwardly.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, on anenlarged scale, taken on the correspondingly numbered line in Fig. 1 and looking upwardly.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section taken on line 4-4, Fig. 2. 10

Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary vertical'transverse sections, on an enlarged scale, taken on the correspondingly numbered lines'in Fig; 1.

In the following description similar characters of reference indicate like parts in the sev- '15 eral figures of the drawing:

In its general construction this extension shoe comprises an upper foot section adapted to be worn on the foot of the person for whom this shoe is designed, and a lower tread sectionwhich is mounted on the underside of the foot section and adapted to bear on the surface which is trodden.

The upper foot section of the shoe may be of any usual and well known construction and only the essential elements of the same are shown in the drawing which consist of an upper Ill which is adapted to receive the foot of the wearer and provided on its underside with a sole ll upon which the underside or sole of the foot rests,

The body of the lower tread section of the extension shoe is constructed integrally from plastic material of a character now in general use which is hard, tough and not liable to be injured by severe usage such as Bakelite, Durez, and materials of a similar character. This body consists of a bottom which is generally shaped to conform to the contour of a regular shoe so as to provide a depressed front or ball section l2, a depressed rear or heel section I3, an elevated intermediate or instep section l4 interposed betwecn said front and rear sections l2 and I3, and an upright wall extending upwardly from the edge of the bottom and approximating the shape of the foot and having a rounded front or toe portion l5, a rounded heel portion I6, and longitudinal side portions IT and I8 which follOW the contour of the inner and outer longitudinal sides of the foot. r v t On itsinner side the wall of this body is provided with a plurality of upright ribs whicha-re formed integrally with the wall andbottom of this section and serve to strengthenthe same and which preferably comprises three ribs l9. arranged on the inner side of the toe portion of the 5 wall, two ribs arranged on the inner side of the ball portions of the Wall of this section and three ribs arranged on the inner side of the heel portion of this wall and spaced from each other so that two of the ribs 2| are on opposite sides of this heel portion of this wall and one of them is on the extreme rear part thereof, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 5.

The top of this hollow lower tread section is normally closed'by means of the insole H of the upper foot section of the shoe, which sole in the preferred construction is detachably connected with the lower tread section. Although various fastening means may be employed for thus connecting the upper foot section and the lower tread section of the shoe, these fastening means are preferably so organized that the same.

will permit of readily attaching the lower tread section of the shoe to the upper foot section thereof and these fastening means are also so organized that they reliably connect the upper and lower sections of the shoe at the toe ends, the heel ends and the opposite longitudinal sides thereof.

The means for detachably connecting the upper and lower shoe sections at the toe ends thereof, as best shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5, comprise a plurality of downwardly facing shoulders 22 formed on the upper parts of the front strengthening ribs land a coupling member consisting of an inner base 23 ,permanently secured to the underside of the adjacent part of the insole by means of nails 24 or the like and an outer hook 225 which projects forwardly and is .ofiset from the base 23 by means of a web 25 and engages with the underside of the several shoulders 22. The ballrportions of the side walls of the tread section are detachably connected with the insole of the upper foot section by means of two downwardly facing shoulders 21 formed on the upper parts of the side strengthening ribs 23 and two coupling members each of which consists of a base 28 permanently secured by nails 29 or the like to the underside of, the sole II and an outwardly'projecting hook 39 which is offset from the respective base 23 by an intermediate web 3| and engages with the downwardly facing shoulder 2! on the adjacent side strengthening rib, as best shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5. 1

The preferred means for detachably'connecting the heel portions of the upper foot section and lower tread section of the shoe, as best shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 6, comprise downwardly facing shoulders 32 formed on the upper parts of the rear strengthening ribs 2|, a screw nut 33 arranged below the rear par-t of the insole II and within the rear part of the hollow tread section and provided with an outwardly projecting flange 34 which engages with the downwardly facingshoulders 32 on the ribs 2I anda coupling screw having a shank 35 passing through the rear part of the insole II and engaging its lower treaded end workingin the screw nut 33 while the head 36 at the upper end thereof bears against the upper side of the insole II. The ribs I 9, 20, 2! are provided with inwardly opening notches 31, 38, 39 the upper sides of which form the shoulders 22, 21, 32, as shown in Figs. 2 to 6.

When the parts of the shoe are disassembled, the coupling members on the toe and side portions of thesole which are permanently connected to-this sole are withdrawn from the cooperating notches 31 and. 38 of. the tread portion of the shoe and the screw 35 is disconnected from the nut 33 and the latter is left Within the tread section of the shoe with its flange 34 projecting into the notches 39 of the rear reenforcing ribs 2I. For, the purpose of connecting the tread section and foot section of the shoe, the coupling hooks Z5 and on the toe and side portions of the insole are first slipped forwardly into the notches 3'1, 38 and into engagement with the undersides of the shoulders 22 and 2'! on the sole of the tread section, then the heel portion of the foot section is lowered upon the rear part of the tread section, and then the screw is threaded into the screw nut 33 and tightened sumcientlyto cause the flange 34 of this nut to bear against the rear shoulders 32 of the tread section, thereby securely connecting the foot section and tread section of the shoe together and holding the same against displacement relatively to each other during the act of walking with the same.

If desired the underside of the ball and heel portions of the bottom of the tread section may be provided with facings 43, M of rubber or similar material so as to prevent slipping on the surface which is being trod, which facings may be attached to the bottom parts I2, I3 by cement or otherwise. and may be renewed from time to time as they become worn and thus save wear on the body of the lower tread section itself.

It will now be apparent that the manufacture of the body of the tread section of this shoe extension in one piece of plastic material not only renders the same very light but also enables the same to be cleaned and polished asreadily as ordinary shoes which are made of or covered with leather and owing to the means for detachably connecting the same with the foot section it is possible to use the same tread section repeatedly by transferring the same from a worn shoe to a new shoe and thereby effecting a considerable economy. s

We claim as our invention:

1. An extensionshoe comprising an upper foot section, a lower tread section, and means for detachably connecting said foot and tread sections including interlocking members arranged respectively on said sections.

2. An extension shoe comprising an upper foot section having a sole on its underside, a hollow lower tread section provided with a bottom on its underside, and means for detachably connecting said sections including a downwardly facing shoulder arranged on said tread section, and a coupling member arranged on said sole and engaging with said shoulder.

3. An extension shoe comprising an upper foot section having a sole on its underside, a hollow lower tread section provided with a bottom on its underside, and means for detachably connecting said sections including a lug arranged on the inner side of the wall of said tread section and having a downwardly facing shoulder and a hook arranged on the sole of the upper section and'engaging with said shoulder.

lower tread section provided with a bottom on its underside, and means for detachably connecting said sections including a pair of shoulders arranged on the inner sides of the front parts of thewall of said tread section, and two coupling members each having a base secured to the sole and a hook offset from said base and projecting laterally therefrom and engaging one of said shoulders.

6. An extension shoe comprising an upper foot section having a sole on its underside, a hollow lower tread section provided with a bottom on its underside, and means for detachably connecting said sections including a shoulder arranged on the inner side of the heel portion of the wall of said tread section, a screw nut having a flange engaging with said shoulder, and a screw having a threaded shank working in said screw nut and a head engaging with the upper side of said sole.

7. An extension shoe comprising an upper foot section having a sole on its underside, a hollow lower tread section provided with a bottom on its underside, and means for detachably connecting said sections including downwardly facing shoulders arranged on the inner sides of the front and rear parts of the wall of said upper section, a coupling member arranged on the front part of said sole and engaging with said front shoulder, a screw nut engaging with said rear shoulder, and a screw connecting said nut and the rear part of said sole.

8. An extension shoe comprising an upper foot section provided with a sole, a lower tread section which is provided with a bottom and a wall rising from the edge of said bottom and is open at its top, and means for connecting said upper section with the lower section and closing the top of said lower section by the sole of said upper section.

9. An extension shoe comprising an upper foot section provided with a sole, a lower tread section which is provided with a bottom and a wall rising from the edge of said bottom and is open at its top, and. means for connecting said upper section with the lower section and closing the top of said lower section by the sole of said upper section, said wall of the lower section being provided on its inner side with strengthening ribs.

10. An extension shoe comprising an upper foot section having a sole, a lower tread section having a hollow body provided with a bottom, a wall rising from the edge of said bottom and upright ribs arranged on the inner side of the heel portions of said wall and each rib having a notch forming a downwardly facing shoulder, a screw nut arranged in said body and having a flange projecting into said notches and engaging said shoulders, and a screw having a threaded shank passing through said sole and working in said nut and having a head engaging the upper side of saidsole, i

ALBERTO PECORELLA.

BENEDICT G. PECORELLA. 

